‘to make the fur fly’: meaning and origin
to cause trouble or an argument—USA, 1814—based on the image of cats fighting
Read MoreCategory: public affairs
‘blockbuster’: meanings and origin
USA, 1942: a large aerial bomb that can destroy a whole block of buildings—USA, 1942: a thing of enormous impact, power or size
Read More‘to fly off the handle’: meaning and origin
to become very agitated or angry, especially without warning or adequate reason—USA, 1816—from the image of the head of an axe or other tool becoming detached from its handle
Read More‘sleeping policeman’ | ‘gendarme couché’
a raised band across a road, designed to make motorists reduce their speed—1961—based on the image of a policeman lying asleep in the middle of a road—in early use often with reference to Jamaica
Read More‘short fuse’: meaning and origin
a tendency to lose one’s temper easily—USA, 1942—‘fuse’ refers to a device by which an explosive charge is ignited—adjective ‘short-fused’: USA, 1952
Read More‘to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat’ | ‘to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory’
‘to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat’: to win a battle, contest, etc., when defeat seemed inevitable—‘to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory’: to be defeated in a battle, contest, etc., when victory seemed inevitable
Read More‘get-out-of-jail-free card’: meaning and origin
something that enables a person to evade punishment, adverse consequences or an undesirable situation—refers to a card in the game of Monopoly which allows a player to leave the jail square
Read More‘the school of (the) hard knocks’: meaning and early occurrences
the experience of a life of hardship regarded as a means of instruction—USA, 1870
Read More‘to drive a coach and horses through something’: meaning and origin
1691—to expose the flaws in something such as a law, a policy, an argument or a belief—these flaws are likened to holes large enough to drive a coach and horses through them
Read More‘blue funk’ (American usage)
a state of depression or despair—1893—a shift in meaning of the British-English expression ‘blue funk’, denoting a state of extreme nervousness or dread (the original meaning in American English)
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